Three-judge bench to hear varsity funding model case
The Court of Appeal has certified as urgent an appeal by the government seeking the restoration of the new university funding model, which was quashed in December.
What you need to know:
- Mr Monari defended the model, arguing that it is not only cheaper but cost-effective as far as financing of higher education is concerned.
- Justice Mwita quashed the new model, finding that it is discriminatory as it introduces classes based on perceived financial ability, discrimination among students based on the type of school a student attended- whether private or public and introduces age as a factor in accessing funding.
The Court of Appeal has certified as urgent an appeal by the government seeking the restoration of the new university funding model, which was quashed in December.
Certifying the case as urgent on Monday, the duty judge directed the trustees of Universities Fund Kenya and Higher Education Loans Board to serve the court documents on other parties involved in the case.
“I have been directed to inform you that this application will be heard by a three-judge bench constituted by the President of the Court of Appeal,” deputy registrar of the Court of Appeal Moses Serem said.
High Court judge Chacha Mwita quashed the Verifiable Scholarship and Loan Funding (VSLF) Model on December 20, saying the model was introduced through a policy that is in conflict with the law.
The judge said the new funding model violated section 53 of the Universities Act as it provides for specific sharing of higher education funding without onboarding the existing law.
The Trustees of the Universities Fund argue that suspending the implementation of the model would lead to a quagmire, as there are students who are benefiting from the funding.
The fund said the 2024/25 academic year has already resumed and the students’ continuation of their courses and stay heavily depended on the disbursements of the funds by the government.
Further, the payments cannot be made with the court order in force, a move that might lead to the closure of the universities indefinitely.
“That the consequential effect of the judgment and orders leads to a grave situation of public interest whereby the students who are beneficiaries of the New Funding Model, education will be irredeemably affected if the judgment is not stayed,” the fund said through its Chief Executive Officer Geoffrey Monari.
Mr Monati said the fund and its board of trustees were tasked with the development of transparent and fair criteria for the allocation of funds to public universities and issuing conditional grants to private universities.
He said they adopted the VSLF as a criterion for financing university education.
“The failure to grant the orders of stay sought in the instant application will be utterly detrimental to the financing of the universities as well as tertiary institutions which could be forced to indefinitely suspend learning,” he said.
Mr Monari defended the model, arguing that it is not only cheaper but cost-effective as far as financing of higher education is concerned.
Justice Mwita quashed the new model, finding that it is discriminatory as it introduces classes based on perceived financial ability, discrimination among students based on the type of school a student attended- whether private or public and introduces age as a factor in accessing funding.
“It introduces an ambiguous and unknown term ‘household’ income as a basis for accessing funding. All these violate Article 27 of the constitution,” said the judge.
Justice Mwita also said the model violates the legitimate expectations of students and their families. This is because the current group of students chose universities, courses, and units based on the differentiated unit cost and the loans HELB as the funding model but found themselves confronted with abruptly introduced VSLF, which they were not aware of.
The court also quashed the new funding model stating that it was not subjected to public participation, despite its fundamental effects on the country’s education system.
